*Indus Valley Civilisation, coined by John Marshall, as it flourished along the Indus river.
*Harappan Civilisation named after the first discovered site, Harappa.
*Saraswati-Sindhu Civilisation, as most of the sites have been found along the Indus-Saraswati river.
TOWN-PLANNING
*A common feature was the grid system i.e. streets cutting across one another at right angles, dividing the town into large rectangular blocks.
*The towns were divided into two parts: the Upper part or Citadel and the Lower part.
*Underground drainage system connected all houses to the street drains, made up of mortar, lime and gypsum. They were covered with either brick or stone slabs and equipped with manholes. This shows a developed sense of health and sanitation.
*The Great Bath (Mohenjodaro) It was used for religious bathing. Steps at either end lead to the surface. There were changing rooms along side.
*The Granaries (Harappa) 6 granaries in a row were found in the Citadel at Harappa.
*Houses were made up of burnt bricks
*Lamp-posts were erected at regular intervals. It indicates the existence of street lighting.
AGRICULTURE
*Agriculture was the backbone of the civilisation. The soil was fertile due to inundation in the river Indus.
*They used wooden ploughshare (ploughed field from Kalibangan) and stone sickles for harvesting.
* Crops produced were wheat, barley, dates, peas, sesamum, mustard, millet, ragi, bajra and jowar. At Lothal and Rangpur, rice husks were found. Sugarcane was not known to the Indus people.
*They were first to produce cotton in the world, which Greeks called as Sindon. A fragment of woven cotton cloth was found at Mohenjodaro.
DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS
*They domesticated buffaloes, oxens, sheep, asses, goats, pigs, elephants, dogs, cats etc.
* Camel bones are reported at Kalibangan and remains of horse are discovered from Surkotada. Remains of Rhinoceros are found from Amri.
ART AND CRAFTS
*Harappans used tools made of stone and bronze. However iron was not known to them. Bronze was made by mixing copper (from Khetri) with tin.
* Boat making, jewellery of gold, silver precious stone and bead making was practised. Cotton fabrics were used in summer and woollens in winter.
*Pottery Both plain and painted (red and black) pottery was made. Pots were decorated with human figures, plants, animals and geometrical patterns.
*Metal Images Bronze image of a dancing girl (identified as devdasi) and stone steatite image of a bearded man were both obtained from mohenjodaro.
*Terracotta Figurines Terracotta means the fire baked clay. It was used to make toys, objects of worship, animals, toy-carts, etc.
TRADE
*Agriculture, industry and forest provided the basis for internal and external trade.
*Trade was based on barter system. Coins are not evident. Bullock carts and boats were used for transportation.
Weights and measures were made of limestone, steatite etc. Generally in weighing mostly 16 or its multiples were used.
*Foreign trade flourished with
*Mesopotamia or Sumeria (Iraq), Central Asia, Persia, Afghanistan and Bahrain.
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES
*Chief Female Diety A terracotta figurine, where a plant is shown growing out of the embryo of a woman and represents the mother Goddess (Goddess of Earth).
*Chief male Diety pashupati Mahadeva (Proto-Siva), represented in seals, sitting in a yogic posture on a throne and having three faces and two horns. He is surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a rhino and a buffalo, and two deers appear at his feet.
*Indus people believed in ghosts and evil forces and used amulets for protection against them. Fire altars are found at Lothal and Kalibangan.
*No temples have been found at any Harappan sites.
* Swastika symbol was originated here.
SCRIPT
*It was pictographic in nature. Fish symbol is the most represented. It was written from right to left in the first line. The style is called Boustrophedon.
Important Harappan Sites
*Harappa (Gateway city): Two rows of six granaries with brick platform, work men's quarter store symbol of lingam and yoni, virgin-Goddess (seal), clay figures of mother Goddess, wheat and barley in wooden mortar, copper scale and mirror vanity box, dice. Sculpture of dog chasing a deer (bronze) nude male nude dancing female (stone), sand stone male torso.
*Mohenjodaro (Mound of the Dead): The great bath, the great granary (largest building), multipillared assembly hall college, proto-Shiva seal, clay figures of mother Goddess, dice.
Sculpture Bronze dancing girl, steatite image of bearded man.
Kalibangan (Black Bangle):Decorated bricks, bangle factory, wheels of a toy cart, wells from every ploughed field house. Bones of camel, 7-fire altars
Chanhudaro (Lancashire of India): Inkpot, lipstick, imprint of dog's paw on a brick, only city without clade bronze toy cart, Terracotta bullock Cart.
Daimabad: Bronze images of Charioteer with chariot ox; elephants and rhinoceros.
Amri: Actual remains of rhinoceros.
Alamgirpur: Impression of cloth on a trough.
Lothal (Manchester of Indus Valley civilisation):
Rice husk, fire altars, dockyard, grinding machine, tusks of elephant, terracotta figure of horse, dying vat, painted jar (bird and for), teracotta ship impressions of cloth on some seals, modern day chess, instrument for measuring angles.
Ropar:Buildings made of stone and soil Dog buried with human, oval pit burials.
Banawali :Oval shaped settlement, only city with radial streets, lack of systematic drainage pattern.
Toy plough, largest number of barley grains.
Surkotada :Both Citadel and Lower Town fortified with stone wall. First actual remains of horse bones pot burials.
Dholavira :Only site to be divided into 3 parts Giant water reservoir, unique water
harnessing system, dams and embankments, a stadium, rock cut architecture.
Rakhigarhi:Largest Indus valley site.
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